Recent Tasting Notes

I’m not the greatest fan of mint tea. I mean, it’s okay, but it’s pretty dull on the whole. This one is a blend of spearmint and peppermint, which raises it a little higher in my estimation – I like spearmint a lot more than peppermint in flavour terms. A nice thing about this blend is that it’s actually green when you brew it. The majority of mint teas I’ve had have been sludgy brown affairs, so it’s always nice to see a fresh-looking cup. I guess the brown is at least partly oxidisation, so I’m not quite sure how it’s been avoided here, but I’m glad it has!

In flavour terms, it’s exactly as you’d expect. Mint, tingly and cool. The spearmint adds an additional edge of sweetness, but the peppermint is definitely the dominant flavour. As mint teas go, this is a good one.

Preparation

I was surprised this one was a black tea, initially. It sounds like something that might be a fruit or rooibos blend, or at least that’s what my brain told me. Possibly I’ve tried something with a similar name before. I’m pleased it’s a black, though. I’m even more pleased that it’s totally delicious!

For starters, it’s rather unexpectedly creamy. It reminded me immediately of 52Teas Orange Creamsicle, only more creamy. The orange flavour is a little artificial. It reminds me more of Kia-Ora juice or orange candy than an actual orange – it’s too sweet to be flavour accurate. That’s okay, though – candy orange with this level of creaminess is a pretty wonderful thing.

Love.

Preparation

I get Chai from this one – actually a really nice Chai – but no gingerbread. That’s my number one gripe as far as this tea goes. Maybe it’s an age thing, as I’ve found with a couple of the other PostTea advent blends, but who knows really?

As a Chai, I rate this one. It has really delicious black liquorice notes, which I’m assuming is largely aniseed-related. It has lots of cardamom, a good hit of black pepper, and is fairly light on the cinnamon, ginger, and clove. It’s a little bit different from the “typical” Chai I generally find in the UK, and I like it all the more for that.

A tea called Gingerbread should have some ginger/cake kind of element, though, and this one doesn’t. Mixed feelings.

Preparation

Finished this one off last night with a splash of milk. I’ve been having a bit of trouble sleeping (too much black tea…?) so I stuck with rooibis/herbal blends last night and felt much better for it. The downside is that I have a headache this morning (not enough black tea…?) but I guess I can remedy that.

Other than the flavoured green blends, which were brilliant on the whole bar one or two notable exceptions, this was one of my favourites from the PostTea advent. It nails cherry bakewell, right down to the icing, and I’m sad to see this one leave my cupboard. The milk, if anything, makes this one better – and I didn’t know that was possible!

Preparation

I’m going to spend the first few days of January revisiting a few of the PostTea advent blends I missed when I was ill at the beginning of December. As it turns out, I think I missed some good ’uns.

Today’s tea is Bakewell Blend, which is supposed (obviously) to resemble a Bakewell Tart . To me, that means – frangipane, cherry, icing. This is a pretty good recreation, although it’s mostly almond and a sweetness that’s pretty spot-on glace icing. There’s really no cherry/jam flavour to speak of, and that’s a slight disappointment.

It’s still ridiculously desserty, though, and I like it for that. It also nails two of the flavours, and two out of three isn’t bad odds. Could it be improved? Yes. Would I buy a bag? Probably not. But is is good to drink on the first day back at work (basically, end of days in terms of my mood)? Yes. And that’ll do.

Preparation

Day 24 of the PostTea advent. Floral teas can be hit or miss for me, but this one, fortunately, is the former. The rose is fairly strong, but the effect is more Turkish delight than perfume – if that makes sense! The black base is smooth and very mildly malty. I drank most of my cup with milk, because I needed to cool it in order to go out. It works equally well either way – the overall effect is creamier and more muted with the milk (naturally), more like rose ice cream. The floral is stronger without milk, but balanced well with the black base, so it comes across fairly even-handed. It’s definitely a flavoured black tea, rather than just a flavoured tea.

The rose ice cream idea is a good one, though. I might keep some of this back to make an iced latte with in the summer…

Preparation

Tried this one with some actual lemon juice and a bit of honey. Unfortunately, it didn’t really improve matters. Mostly, it just contrasted rather sharply with the overpowering woodiness of the rooibos. Not a success, and not one I’d repurchase. No zesty lemon here!

Preparation

Day 23 of the PostTea advent. This is the only rooibos in the calender, at least of those I’ve tried so far. I missed a few days when I was ill, but I’ll probably go back to those at the beginning of January. I suspect this is one which has suffered a little from age, a bit like the first day’s G & Tea. I get rooibos in all its woody glory, but very little lemon. It’s certainly not zesty. Mostly, I get a mild, background lemon-ness, a little reminiscent of bathroom cleaner or something along those lines. Some fresh, actual lemon might pep this one up, so that’s probably how I’ll try it next time. Maybe grated zest in with the actual leaf, or a squeeze of lemon juice once it’s brewed? It’s not the greatest as it stands, but I’m hopeful that I may be able to tart it up a little with some fresh ingredients.

Preparation

Day 22 of the PostTea advent, and in some ways I got my wish because this is a flavoured yerba blend. In truth, it’s a yerba/green mix, but that’s fine with me as PostTea do greens so well.

Winter Sparkle is a cute name, and the only thing I’d add to it is a little bit of actual sparkle. You know, just because (it’s Christmas, it works with the name, whatever…). The flavouring here is mostly strawberry, but there’s also a touch of something mango/papaya-ish hanging out in the background. It adds a slight pepperiness that works really well with the earthiness of the yerba, and the sweet, buttery green tea. Mostly, though, this is about the strawberry. It’s excellent strawberry – flavour accurate, sweet-ish, very reminiscent of August Uncommon’s strawberry flavouring in Skylark (spot-on, in other words.)

Love this one!

Preparation

Day 21 of the PostTea advent, and today’s Winter Solstice tea is…your standard Pai Mu Tan. It’s fine as far as it goes, but if I’d been designing this advent, I’m pretty sure I’d have gone for something a little more interesting. I’d also have mixed up the straight and flavoured teas a little more, because it feels like there’s a run of each. I guess I just prefer variety!

Anyway, this is fine as far as it goes. I like white tea, and this one is smooth and slightly buttery, with that characteristically “soft” mouthfeel. It reminds me a little of accidentally drinking softened water at my parents’ house – there’s a flat kind of silkiness that’s replicated here (minus the salt, of course). Mostly, I’m tasting sweet water, because a lot of the time that’s what I get from white tea. It’s pleasant enough, just a little uninspiring.

Preparation

Day 20 of the PostTea advent. I feel like this one was well placed, because a Yerba (or a Guayusa, or anything with energy giving qualities…) is exactly what I want today. I finished work on Friday, and since then I seem to have deteriorated into a limp, exhausted, slightly ill-feeling heap. It’s funny, I think, how you can keep going when you absolutely have to, but it’s all over the moment you get some time off.

Anyway, the tea. It’s Yerba. Walks like Yerba, talks like Yerba, tastes like Yerba. Is Yerba. It’s earthy, as you might expect. Very earthy. It also has a slight background smokiness. Otherwise, there’s nothing much to report here. I generally prefer these kinds of teas flavoured, because it makes them a little more palatable and generally more interesting, but straight is fine. Not exciting, but fine – as long as it does its job! I can imagine this one with some lemon, though…might have to try that!

Preparation

Day 19 of the PostTea advent. Quince seems to be a fairly rare flavour in tea, so I was really pleased to see this one! It’s another green blend also, which PostTea seem to do well. The dry leaf smells delicious, and fortunately this carries through to the tea. So far, so good.

I can’t say I’ve ever tried an actual quince, at least not knowingly. I have had quince scented shower products, though – most memorably from Future Primitive Soap. Wild Grass and Quince Jam is one of the scents I permanently associate with summer holidays in Scotland now – it’s super evocative, for me.

This tea has a similar vibe. It reminds me of a citrus fruit, only sweeter, and was a jam-like aspect. Maybe apricot? That’s not quite right, but it’s hard to describe quince in terms of other flavours. I think it’s a member of the pear family, so pear crossed with green grape? Gooseberry? Something like that. There’s a mild background floral that suggests pear to me, although here I think it’s created by the addition of rose petals, rather than coming directly from the dried quince pieces.

I like this one. It is kind of autumnal, and PostTea’s green base works well here. I’d happily drink a lot more of this!

Preparation

Day 18 of the PostTea advent. Sencha with strawberry, rhubarb and ginger. The name sounded quite autumnal to me, but the description suggests that it would actually be an ideal summer tea. The fruit flavours suggest that to me also, so we’ll blame this error of perception on me. I like the idea of this one, but there isn’t going to be any left come summer (at least, I really doubt it.) If it’s good, I might have to get more, because I can see this one working well iced.

It’s good. In actual fact, it reminds me a tiny bit of a Butiki blend – Eyes Wide Open, or something like that? I remember it being a strawberry/ginger blend. This has a very similar vibe – sweet, flavour-accurate strawberry (not artificial in the slightest), with the sour/tart rhubarb and a touch of warming heat from the ginger. It’s an excellent combination of flavours, and well balanced.

It uses PostTea’s standard green base – sencha – and it’s as smooth and sweet/vegetal as ever. It allows the flavours to shine without getting too much in the way, although the background vegetal flavour works well with the strawberry and rhubarb. It makes me think of allotments and vegetable patches. Green vegetables in the sun. Nice.

I’d happily drink this one again, and it may well be one I choose to repurchase at some point.

Preparation

Day 17 of the PostTea advent. Today’s blend is fairly unexpected, I would say. There are Christmas Cake blends aplenty, but I’ve never come across one with a pu’erh base before. It kind of works, in a rich, earthy kind of way. My only complaint is that it’s perhaps a little too earthy (and I was fairly conservative with my brew time…)

The flavouring is good, though. Dried fruit, a hint of spice, a touch of almond, and a little background sweetness that’s just about reminiscent of icing. I think I would have preferred a black base, but this is pretty good. While the pu’erh isn’t particularly strong or overpowering, it comes across just a little heavy handed – like the Christmas cake flavours are competing with the base for prominence, rather than working in harmony. It almost works. Would I drink it again? Probably. I don’t think it’s one I’d actively seek out, though.

Preparation

Day 16 of the PostTea advent. What I’ve learned from this, I think, is that PostTea do really good dessert blends, and that they absolutely nail butter/pastry flavours. This one reminds me a little of Christmas Cookies – also a green blend – because it has a very similar buttery/pastry/biscuit kind of vibe. As far as apple strudel goes, this is spot on. The apple itself is fairly sweet, more baked/floury in flavour than floral or sharp/sour, which seem to be the only three possible options as far as apple teas go. There’s also a dried fruit flavour in the background, that reminds me a little of mince pies or Christmas cake. The three aspects also work really well together!

My only complaint about this blend is that it verges on too sweet, and after half a cup or so it’s really quite cloying. It’s a great dessert tea, though. I can’t fault it for that.

I think perhaps green tea blends are what PostTea do best. Another blend I liked of theirs was a green – I think it was called Drink Me!, a limited edition Alice in Wonderland blend. Then with Christmas Cookies and Apple Strudel, there’s a kind of pattern emerging. I guess I’ll see after a few more whether that’s further reinforced. Happy with this one, though.

Preparation

Day 15 of the PostTea advent. Like the straight sencha the other day, today’s tea is a straight oolong. Although there have been a lot of flavoured blends included in the calendar, it’s nice to have a few more low-key teas in there too. It’s a nice change of pace. I’m also pleased with the variety there has been – it’s not all black or green teas.

Which brings me to today’s. I’m not the greatest oolong fan, although I’m always willing to try a new thing. I’ve had formosa oolong before from different companies, but it’s not a variety I drink regularly as I’m not over sold on roasted oolongs. I thought I’d prefer them, given that they’re more similar to black tea than green oolongs, but in general I prefer the green. Anyway, as roasted oolongs go, this is a palatable one. It’s fairly sweet, with an almost nutty flavour underlying – it’s putting me in mind of pecans! That brings with it a slight tail-end bitterness, like slightly burnt nut skin, but on the whole it’s sweetish, and ever so slightly malty.

I really quite like this one.

Preparation

I was looking forward to this one! Candy Cane tea is one of those things that just seems to appeal to me, for reasons I can’t really explain. Fortunately, it lives up to its name, being a pleasant blend of black tea, mint, and just a touch of vanilla creaminess. The pieces of candy cane in the blend aren’t just chunks of larger canes, either. They’re actually teeny-tiny whole mini canes, which is a very cute touch!

I’m drinking this one without milk today, but I can see it working well with milk (more creaminess?) as well, and I’ll probably try it like that next.

Day 13 of the PostTea advent is plain ol’ sencha, which is fine as far as it goes. It’s smooth, buttery, slightly grassy – pretty much just your average sencha. There’s a slight dankness that emerges as the cup cools, and it begins to turn ever so slightly towards bitter, but that’s perhaps my fault for getting distracted. Should have drank it hot!

This isn’t the most exciting tea, but I’m appreciating it today as a refreshing change of pace. It’s a good palate cleanser after several days of heavily flavoured teas.

Preparation

Day 12 of the PostTea advent. This one is a cherry and rose blend with a green tea base, and so the name strikes me as a little odd. It’s right to, I think, because I don’t really get cobbler, or anything particularly dessert-like, from this tea. I get cherry and rose, and that’s fine, but why call it cobbler? I instantly feel like this is as much a miss in terms of name as christmas cookies was a hit.

That’s not to say that this is a bad blend, because it isn’t. It’s just badly named, and sets up expectations it can’t possibly meet. The cherry is nice – quite natural tasting, and not too reminiscent of cough syrup. The rose complements it well, adding just a touch of sweet floral that’s putting me in mind of blossom; flowering trees and spring. It’s a beautiful, ethereal blend, and should probably have been called sakura, or something along those lines.

It reminds me quite a lot of Pekoe’s Japanese Cherry Blossom, which I drank in quantity last summer. It has the same sencha base and cherry/rose flavour combination. The sencha here is smooth, sweet, a touch grassy, and perfectly enhances the “spring” vibe I’m getting from this one. It’s not cherry cobbler, though. That, to me, would be an altogether heavier, butterier kind of flavour. This is light and fresh-tasting. Name criticisms aside, it’s a good cup! I’d happily drink it again.

Day 11 of the PostTea advent. This is a pretty basic chai blend, as far as I can tell. All the usual suspects are present and correct – ginger, clove, cardamon, cinnamon, black pepper. The black base is, I think, Assam – it’s smooth and malty, but otherwise unremarkable. I like Assam as a chai base, though, and it’s a good fit here. The spices don’t come out that well in the flavour, and my cup seems rather mild and muted, a little “flat” tasting. I’m wondering if this is a victim of age again, because some dried spices lose their intensity over time, in my experience. I can just about pick out clove, and there’s a background heat from the pepper or ginger, but it’s hard to be more specific because the flavour just isn’t there. I can certainly smell the spices, though, so the “aromatic” claim is spot-on.

I have mixed feelings about this one. I think it could be good, if a little ordinary, under better circumstances. As it stands, it’s probably not one I’d repurchase. It’s not bad, just thoroughly underwhelming.

Preparation

Day 10 of the PostTea advent. I was hoping to like this one, because the concept sounds excellent. It turns out I actually really do. This is a perfectly spot-on recreation of soft, spiced christmas cookies. There’s a buttery, biscuitty quality and a level of spicing that leaves a slightly tingly aftertaste. The two aspects work fabulously well together, creating a supremely dessert-like effect. I really like the use of red pepper, which sounds strange but adds a distinctive twist that comes over better than I thought. It’s not as in-your-face as black pepper, but I’m pretty sure it’s responsible for a lot of the warming heat, alongside the ginger and cinnamon. It’s a bit like chai…but the biscuit aspect takes it to another level.

This one is available to buy on PostTea’s website most of the time, from what I’ve seen, and it’s one I would consider buying in larger quantity. I’d quite like to try it as a latte, or maybe iced, but it’s so good as it is that it might not actually last that long…

I’m glad this calendar is picking up, after my initial concerns. It’s turning into a pretty good experience after all.

Preparation

Day 9 of the PostTea advent. Mayfair Blend is a CTC Indian/Kenyan blend, which is fine with me (although not super unusual or interesting…) I think my conclusion so far is that this advent is a good way to try a decent chunk of PostTea’s range, which is partly what I was hoping, but I was also hoping for some new Christmas/festive blends that aren’t available to buy as part of the year-round main range. A balance of those two things would have been nice, but meh. There are a good few days left yet.

This blend is okay, as far as CTCs go. It’s strong (as you might expect), robust, malty, with a hint of baked potato and a background sweetness. It’s a little brisk, although I kind of expect that a little with a really strong black (and this is really strong). I think I might save the rest of this one for a day when I’m really worn out (like, wishing I was finished work but not quite there, or when I come back freezing from Christmas shopping. Something like that. That’s what it’s suited to, in my mind. I don’t know whether I’d drink it as a breakfast blend, which is the suggestion, because I don’t think it would sit well on an empty stomach. At least, not for me. It would certainly be a decent kick in the pants, though!

This is another I’d not buy more of, but it’s a decent blend.

Preparation

Day 8 of the PostTea advent. Genmaicha can be hit or miss for me, depending on the base and the overall level of toastiness. This one strikes a good balance. It’s probably one of the sweetest I’ve tried (at least, among those that are unflavoured), and it really does have the “sugar puffs” quality that so many promise and then don’t deliver. The base is smooth and buttery, with just a hint of pea, perfectly complemented by the toasted rice which is very reminiscent of sweet popcorn. It has a toastiness, but it’s fairly mild.

I like this one – it’s a genmaicha I’d be happy to keep around, largely because it strikes a decent balance between sweet and savoury. If I were to be a picky pain, I’d say I’d like the toasted rice to be a little more distinctively toasted, as that would give the overall flavour a bit more punch. It’s a small complaint, really, though. It tastes good as is.

Preparation

Day 7 of the PostTea advent calendar. This one isn’t super exciting, but I actually have a soft spot for a decent Earl Grey. There’s something about the scent of bergamot that I find intensely calming, even if I’m not over keen on the flavour. I’ve been so stressed and anxious recently that anything calming is welcome, although particularly if it comes in tea form (obviously!)

This is fine as EG goes. The base is perhaps a little brisk, more noticeable as it cools, but that’s not a huge problem. The bergamot is medium-strength, quite sharp and prominent, and orangey in a floral sort of way. All normal for bergamot, basically. I didn’t add any milk to today’s cup, largely because I don’t habitually keep milk at work, but I have a feeling that might help to smooth out and tone down, so I might try it with my second cup.

Three teas in, it’s become apparant that each envelope only holds enough tea for two cups. I’m sure I read on PostTea’s website that it was supposed to be four to five, so I’m feeling a little short-changed. Still, it’s a novelty.

I’d not buy more of this one, simply because it works out pretty expensive for what it is, and there are other EG blends I prefer. Always happy to drink a cup, though, and there’s nothing objectionable about this one. It’s a decent EG, but that’s as far as it goes.